The Belgian defender, who was signed from Ajax in July, has started Tottenham's last four Premier League games as Andre Villas-Boas' side sit in eighth place following back to back victories over Reading and QPR.

"Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie are two of the best strikers in the league and the reason I came to the Premier League was to play against people like them," Vertonghen told Sky Sports.

Tottenham face a trip to Manchester United on Saturday and Vertonghen is looking to end Spurs' 23-year wait for a victory at Old Trafford.

Vertonghen was on the losing side against Manchester United last season as Ajax suffered a 2-0 defeat to Sir Alex Ferguson's side in the Europa League, but the 25-year-old insists a counter-attacking strategy could be the key to success on Saturday.

"We are strong enough to beat them. We have a good team, we've won the last two or three games now playing good football and everyone is hopeful of getting a good result at Old Trafford," Vertonghen added.

"When I played against them last year they beat us in the Amsterdam Arena 2-0 and I think they thought they could beat us at 60 per cent.

"It was a good game at Old Trafford. We beat them in the last minute and that showed that with good counter-attacks you can win there."